Worm-gearing.



0. MYERS. WORM GBARING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, 1912.

Patented May 6, 1913.

&

ATTORNEY aa-w bam a mam;- T

' specification.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE exams H. MYERS, on .Bmmno, Ni zw YORK.

v I I I. I Specificatilliog letters Patent.-

Application mm March -Qisia semi No. ceases.

This invent-ion has reference-to improvemerits in worm gearing, and itsobject is to between the two members of the gearing s provide a wormgearing wherein the friction reduced jtO' a minimum by the employment ofanti-trict-ipn devices, which "are so eo1istructed as to be in stockmaterial's.

- The invention comprises a .worrn w'liich nest part made up of may besimilai' to the worms customarilyin' use, While the worm gea'r'wheelconstituting the airiven member of the gearing is provided with memberswhich because of the similarity of tunotion with the teeth of the:

ordinary worm gear wheel niay also =betermed teeth, and these membersare so constructed as to present rounded surfaces at all times to thehelical flange of-the worm and:' whenever the flange of the worm ordrive member engages the teeth of the worm gear Y -Wheel a rollingcontact is obtained, so that at no point is there sliding contact,Wherecontact is avoided. To carry out the invention the teeth of thefore the friction-usually caused by sliding worm gear wheel areeach-made upof one or more balls or spheres through which there isproduced a diametric passage countersunk at the ends to receivea-machine screw of commercial form and confined anti-friction balls,also of commercial form, the spheres, screws, and balls being obtainablein the open market, and the only -work necessary on the spheres being tobore and c'onnterbore ithem. The gear wheel is provided with a rimlaterally curved to form s-pefiphesal ehann'el, and one or moreperipheral rows (Sf-spheres are mounted in saidperipheral channel to-be-engaged by thehelical flange of the worm. e

The invention will bebest understood from a consideration of the'following'detailed deof the invention.

. In the dranhigsi li !.e1 is a-s'ection 'thrmlgh the worm""gear' wheelin a plane at right angles to the sxis thereof and showing cross sectionand also showing the driving the spheres earned by the worm gearwheeland drawn to a larger scale. than the other ngaies. r-

a drive sh'aifi; 1 upon-which .is noa ted a worm-2 provided with ahelical flange '3 of 3 hav-ing itsside we is 4'slight1 mnnded orhollowed.

direct-ion of the longitudinal axis of the shaft 5 to form a amnes aperiphery or rimrof channel shape. The riinfioam' es zen-its,

8, each :of which has diametrically through its passage 9,;one end ofwhich is-countersunk, as indicated at 10, :and the other-end of which iscountersunk, .as indicated at 11; :the countersink 10 being usuallysomewhatdeeper than the countersink '11-. I

Traversing the passage 9 is the smooth shank of agmachinescrew 12 havinga threaded end 13 extendi through a tapped passage through the rim=perpendicular .to the part of the :rim 7 travensed b, "the threadedpassage. The threaded portion 13 of the'sc'reWlQ l5 lon enough to-extend:beyond the .inner face 0 the rim 7 "where-itre- "ceives look nuts '14.About each threaded passage for the end 113 (of .a screw- LQGthe outerface of the rim 77 is countersunk, as indicated at 1-5, to receive'a'series ref unti- 1-5 by the countersunk portion .11 0f the sphereS. 1The screw '12 is provided with ;a suitable head 17 adapted to thecountersink 10 and confining anti-friction balls 18 .therein.

Since the spheres '8 are obtainable in the openmarket and need be onlybored and counterbored,- and sincethescrews 12 and iii the open market,thecost of thegearing the worm .and'cther isarts in elevation, Fig. i 2is an elevation o fs fragment of the worm gear wheel showiagthe rim-atone point in Referringto the rawings-meets Seam suitable radialekte tand pitchfthe flange Patented May 1913.

' at'eriai depart-urefrcfnthe salientfeatures worm mend elevation withits, drive shaft in .crcss'seetionw Fig. 8 is a section on the line 3= 8of "1 oniitting all but one of Mounted on 1m is a when 611 having a rim?curved 'ia u in the other :channel face circular series of'spheresiriction balls 16 confined to the countersink anti-friction ballsemployed are obtainable quite moderate, for the parts are readilyassembled. -The' screw 12 provides means whereby the spheres 8 may bedelicately adjusted to turn freely yet snugly on the screws ed on thedriven wheel anda' correspondingly powerful wprm gearing is therebyfeasible and even though the power transmitted' be great the frictionencountered is comparatively slight with respect to the worm gearingwhere the helical flange of the worm bears against teeth elongated lat:erallfy of the worm gearand therefore pre-" scnting longfrictionsurfaces Aorengage? ment. The power transmit ed byworm gearing isusually great and the friction produced is correspondingly great, whilewith the present invention "an' equal extent of teeth on the drivingwheel is obtained, and at the" same time the friction'is reduced toaminimum and'far below that of teeth integral with the .rim of the drivenwheel. 1

Anti-friction worm gearing as heretofore constructed has beenv of acomplicated nature requiring practically all; the parts to be of specialmake without correspondingadvantages, while with the present'invenbilityof bending, while the spheres'dmay have thebores 9 of considerablediameter in proportionto the diameter 'of the spheres to accommodatethick'screws 12, whereby the stren h-of the worm gear wheel is,corresponingly enhanced. What is claimed is 1. A worm gearin comprising a wormand a worm gear we eel, the'latter being provided with teeth "composedof spheres j bore of the sphere.

bored diametrically with a counter-borerat each end of theldiametricbore, a screw traversing the bore of each sphere and carried by the gearwheel, and anti-friction balls lodged in the counter-bores atthe ends,of the main- 2. A worm gearing comprising a worm and a worm gear wheelhaving a peripheral series 'of spheres mounted thereon, each spherehaving a diametric bore therethrough.

with counter-bores at the opposite ends, and

a screw having a head adapted to one counter-bore in the'sphere and asmooth portion traversing the main bore of the sphere, said i screw.having a threaded portion, and, the gear wheel havin a rim with atapfped p'as sage therethroug for said threaded po'r tion of the screwand alsd a counter-bore about said tappedflpassage, and anti-friction 1.ballslodged in the 'counter' 'bores of the;

sphere and }in the corresponding counter P bore in thelrim of the geltrwheel, the threaded portion of thefscrew being of a -lengtlytd extendthrough'jtherim-and be E yond that face of the r lgjr'emote, from the.co interbore and thereprovidedywith lock-' a A worifi gar com ris ng av; ing a helical flange with" ho1lowed side walls 8 I and a," gear;wheel with a, laterally curved? periphery formiiig a circumferential}.cha'rr .nel about-the fg'ear wheel, and; seriesfibf spheres carried bytherim'ofthe gear-wheel within-the channel, each sphere having a s.di'am'etricbore with counter-'bores at opp-osite-ends, thecounter-bore'at one nd being larger than that at the other, a screwtraversing each sphere andprovided with a head at one end adapted to thelarger couns te'r-bore, ,a smooth-- shank ada ted to the mainvboreof thesphere,and a t readed end for engaging and traversing the rim of thegear wheel, the said rim where traversed by the screw beingcounter-bored to match the-'1 corresponding counter-bore in the sphere,and anti-friction balls, lodged in the coun-- ,ter-bores of the sphere,being confined thereinat'one end by the head of the screw and.- at. theother end by coactmg, parts of, 1

the-sphereandrim of the gear'wheel, said screwl Having the threaded end'of a,'length to extend through and beyond the rim of, the

' wheel and'there provided with lock niits'.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 1 my own, Ihave heretoaflixed my signature in the-presence of two witnesses.

' 'OHAS. MYERS. .Witnesses: I

' 'JoHN -H.S1eo'nns, DAVID R. WAeNnR.

